So The Bourne Legacy stood little chance from stopping Sylvester Stallone and his rich roster of co-stars from shooting it off the box office summit with The Expendables 2.

With a total of 11 action icons, including the likes of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis, fans of Eighties action pictures flocked to the cinema to see the sequel.

Winning team: Sylvester Stallone and co are sitting at the top of the charts with The Expendables 2

The explosive sequel romped to the top of the charts with an impressive $28.8million debut.

But while it followed in the footsteps of the previous installment in that respect, its take was still17 per cent lower than the $34.8m of the first.

Explosive opening: And executives are confident it will perform well in the coming weeks too

Interestingly, it also marks the first time iconic Karate man Chuck Norris has ever topped the charts.

Audience and critical reaction also bodes well for future business, as it so far as an A- score from viewers on CinemaScore.

Even professional reviewers are saying it is better than the first, with The Hollywood Reporter's Justin Lowe saying it is, 'Taut, humorous and attractively packaged.

'The sequel is both fleet footed and engaging enough to captivate audiences with more than just nonstop action.'

Despite its impressive opening, Lionsgate executive vice president of distribution David Spitz expects the demographics of the series' fanbase and strong word of mouth to help it perform well in the long term.

He said: 'We think we'll have a great run. Older audiences don't rush out to the cinema on opening weekend.'

Bourne again: Jeremy Renner's new character has proven as popular as Matt Damon's in financial terms

Universal executives will surely be pleased with The Bourne Legacy's performance, even though it had a 55 per cent drop on last week in taking second place after with $17m.

The $125m sequel, which saw a new character played by Jeremy Renner take centre stage instead of Matt Damon's Jason Bourne, has now earned $69.6m after ten days.

Impressively, its predecessor The Bourne Ultimatum earned $69.3m during its opening weekend in 2007.

Whether it will continue with its momentum is unclear however, as it has received mixed reviews from critics, while only 54 per cent of viewers say they liked it on Rotten Tomatoes.

Disappointing: ParaNorman has performed at the low end of expectations

Another new movie managed to creep into the top three as ParaNorman took $14m.

However, this is at the low end of what NBC Universal's art house arm Focus Features were expecting, though there is some reason for them to expect it to be more of a slow-burner.

The 3D stop motion animated film, in which a boy has to help save his town from a zombie siege, has received overwhelmingly positive critique.

Tom Long of the Detroit News said: 'Chances are most kids, and most adults, will find Paranorman perfectly horrible in the best possible way.'

Time for a recall: The Campaign has proven popular despite low approval ratings

Political comedy The Campaign slipped down two places to fourth this week, after takin $13.4m.

The star power of funnymen Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis has now saw its total take rise to $51.7m.

It seems it will struggle to maintain its place in the top five next week however, as just 59 per cent of Rotten Tomatoes viewers have given it a positive rating.

The much heralded Sparkle, which boasts the final screen performance of singer Whitney Houston, failed to shine after taking just $12m.

If only it was like this at theatres: Whitney Houston's final performance has not been enough to attract viewers to see Sparkle

By comparison concert documentary Michael Jackson: This Is It, which arrived four months after the pop icon's death earned $23.2m in its opening weekend in October 2009.

It has also taken something of a critical pasting, with Screen It's Jim Judy saying: 'What initially looks like it might be a worthy follow-up to Dreamgirls turns into a fiasco of melodrama, overarching angst, family strife, over-acting, hordes of clichés and more.'

An honourable mention also goes to The Dark Knight Rises, which fell outside the top five for the first time to sixth after making $11.1m.

This saw it pass the $400m mark, and it has now earned $409.9m total.

This also saw it pass the wildly successful Hunger Games as the 12th highest-grossing US domestic performer of all time.